Snow
by The All Real Numbers Symbol
Summary: A sudden cold snap comes to Tokyo, bringing with it a girl name Yuki. She's been turned into a Mew, but that might be a bad thing... Who is this girl, and what is she trying to hide? Set after a la Mode.
1. Chapter 1

**Snow**

* * *

**Summary:** A suden cold snap comes to Tokyo, bringing with it a girl named Yuki. She's been turned into a Mew, but that might be a bad thing...

**Rating:** T

**Genre:** Drama/Horror

* * *

Lettuce was the first to notice her. Even though it was early November, it had been a mild day, and the doors of the Café were open while the girls cleaned and got ready for the day.

She was about an inch shorter than Zakuro, with shoulder length black hair and dark blue eyes, around which hung a look of sadness. She was wearing a pair of black jeans, a white shirt, white shoes, and was holding a white clutch purse that had a blue snowflake embroidered on the front.

"Hello," Lettuce said. "We're not open yet, but if you come back a little later, we can -"

"No," The girl interrupted. "I -I need – This is the headquarters of Tokyo Mew Mew, isn't it?"

Now she had the attention of all six girls.

"Um…I'm gonna go get Ryou." Berry said a she darted back through the Employees Only way.

"What makes you so sure this is Tokyo Mew Mew's headquarters?" Zakuro asked coldly.

The girl gave a slight smile. "It's called Café Mew Mew."

"So, we decided to name it after Tokyo Mew Mew." Mint said carelessly. "So what?"

The girl gave another sad smile. "You're not a very convincing liar." She said. "Well, maybe I'm wrong. But if I am, do you know where I can find Tokyo Mew Mew?"

"Why do you need to find them?" Ichigo asked.

In response, the girl reached into her purse and pulled out something, which she set down on the counter. It was a Power Pendant.

Ichigo, Mint, and Lettuce's eyes widened. Zakuro's narrowed. "Where did you get this?" the purple-haired girl asked.

"I got hit by some sort of ray of light, and when I woke up I found this." _Just please take it back, don't ask me if I can become a Mew Mew, and let me get away from here._

"So, there's another one. Perhaps I should look into having the Mew DNA infuser disassembled." The girl watched as Berry came back into the room, followed by a blond boy.

"Wait, Ryou, you knew there was going to be another Mew?" Ichigo asked.

"I had my suspicions." He replied. "The gun was accidentally fired off again, so I suspected another Mew would show up."

"You really should at least put a safety lock on that thing." Mint pointed out.

_Please don't ask me if I can transform_, the girl begged silently, only to have her worst fear realized a moment later.

"Can you transform with this?" Ryou asked as he picked up the Pendant and held it out to her.

The girl hesitated. "Do I have to?"

"Of course you do." Ryou replied. "If there's another Mew, I'd certainly like to know about it. Besides, it won't hurt you."

Lettuce quietly moved over and closed the front door as the girl took the pendant. She sighed and then kissed the pendant.

"Mew Mew Almond, Metamorphosis!"

A moment later, her body began to glow. The Café seemed to fade away as she spun around through a flurry of snowflakes, some which landed on her body, where her armbands, garter, dress, shoes, and gloves would be. More snowflakes clung to her back, then seemed to explode away, leaving behind a pair of white, triangular bird wings, and a bird tail.

Her body had stopped glowing. She swung her left hand out, and the snowflakes on it turned to ice, then made a slight _ching_ noise as the ice shattered away, leaving a dark grey glove with a dim gray band around the edges. She swung her right hand out, only to have the scenario repeated. She swung her left leg out, allowing the snowflakes to freeze and shatter away; leaving a dark grey, high-heeled boot that stopped a few inches below her knee, then repeated for her right leg. She curled into a ball, then quickly spread out, allowing the rest of the snowflakes to freeze then shatter away, leaving her wearing a dark gray dress with a top like Lettuce's and a skirt like Mint's, plus the rest of the accessories, all done in dark gray and edged in dim gray.

A moment later, the snowflakes around her neck shattered away, leaving a collar in the same gray shades as her Mew outfit, and then a piece of ice shaped like a snowflake shattered away from her collar, revealing her pendant.

Her transformation complete, she lifted up and spun around again, landing in her end pose; a large, pale blue snowflake appeared behind her as she clasped her hands together.

Then it was over. The snowflake and rest of the end pose faded away, and she was standing in the Café again. She unclasped her hands and stood up a bit straighter.

"Wow," Ichigo gasped.

"Hooray! Almond-oneesama is a Mew Mew!" Pudding shrieked, only to have Mint scold her.

"Pudding, be quiet. Remember what we told you about inside voices?"

"Is Almond your name?" Lettuce asked.

"No." The girl replied. "My real name is Yuki."

"Well, Yuki, it looks like you'll have to join the Mew Mew team." Ryou told her.

_No! Don't say that! You have no idea what you're about to do!_ Yuki silently cried, then spoke up, "Um, is it… do you really need me to join Tokyo Mew Mew?"

"Yes." Ryou replied. "We really do need you to join Tokyo Mew Mew."

_No, no, this is so wrong!_

"We'll need a some DNA to test, though, to figure out what you're infused with."

"Test?" Yuki looked down. She was still wearing her Mew outfit.

"Don't worry, Miss Yuki. It's not as bad as it sounds."

Yuki looked up. A slightly older man, with long brown hair in a ponytail had emerged from the back room.

"Yuki, this is Keiichiro." Ryou said. "He helped me with the original Mew project."

"All we need is a few hairs to test, or a feather." Keiichiro told her.

Yuki plucked a feather from her wing and handed it to Keiichiro, then de-transformed.

"Thank you." Keiichiro smiled as took the feather, then headed back to the computer room.

"I'll get you a uniform." Ryou said as he also turned and headed for the back room. "The girls will introduce themselves."

"I'm Ichigo Momomiya."

"Berry Shirayuki."

"Mint Aizawa."

"Lettuce Mirdorikawa."

"Pudding Fong!"

"Zakuro Fujiwara."

"Well, you already know I'm Yuki." She replied.

"Why are you so glum, Yuki-oneesama?" Pudding asked. "Do you want to see some of my tricks?"

Yuki gave her a cheerless smile. "Maybe later, Pudding."

"Yeah, what's the matter, Yuki?" Berry wanted to know.

"It's- It's just that…Look, I really shouldn't work here." Yuki said. "It would be bad, okay? Can I just quit? You don't need me on your team, and if you know the truth, you wouldn't want me on it."

"Why?" Mint asked. "Are you a pickpocket?"

"Well, no."

"Well then," Mint began, but she was interrupted as Ryou came back into the room, carrying a cream-colored uniform trimmed in bright white, which he handed to Yuki. "Sorry we don't have any gray ones."

"It-it's okay." Yuki replied. "I like white."

Ryou then noticed that everyone else was still standing around. "What are the rest of you doing?" He demanded. "I'm not paying you to stand around and do nothing! Berry, show Yuki where the changing rooms are. Ichigo, why aren't you finished with that table yet? Lettuce, it's time to open."

The girls hurried back to work, except for Zakuro, who never hurried unless she was Mew Zakuro.

Ryou stalked back to the computer room, hearing the clatter of computer keys as he entered. "Have you figured out what Mew Almond is?" He asked Keiichiro.

The older man didn't even look up from the computer. "It seems Mew Almond is infused with the DNA of the Ivory Gull." He said.

"Something wrong?" Ryou wanted to know. "You seem rather hesitant about her." _Almost more hesitant about her then she is about herself._

"Look at this chart." Keiichiro told him. "See, this pink section represents her human DNA, and this white part shows her Ivory Gull DNA. But I can't figure out what this blue part is supposed to represent."

Ryou studied the screen. "Did you run it against our database?"

"Yes, but it came up negative. If this is a new endangered animal, then no one's ever heard of it before."

"Hmm…" Ryou mused, but before he could come up with an idea, a red, blinking pop-up appeared on the screen.

"Uh-oh, we've got trouble." Keiichiro said as he turned back to the computer and began typing rapidly. "There's some kind of monster attacking Tokyo Park."

"I'll go get the girls." Ryou said as he turned and raced out of the room.

He burst into the main room of the café and found that no one had arrived yet. "Girls, close the café."

Berry looked confused. "But it's barely been opened yet."

"There's a monster attacking the park." Ryou told them. "You have to get down there and stop it, right away!"

Ichigo looked at the others. "He's right. Let's go, ladies!"

As Ichigo and the other quickly closed the café, Yuki slipped back to the changing room to get her purse, since that was where she had put her Power Pendant. "I hope things go okay." She muttered sadly.

* * *

"Mew Mew Ichigo, Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Mint, Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Lettuce, Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Pudding, Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Zakuro, Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Berry, Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Almond, Metamorphosis!"

In no time at all, it seemed to Almond, the seven of them had arrived at the park, only to find a monster no one had expected to see.

Mew Lettuce gasped. "It's a Yeti!"

"What?" Ichigo asked.

"It's also known as an abominable snowman." Zakuro told her.

_You should have sent me away before it came to this, Mew Mews_. Almond thought. _But it's too late now._

"Let's go!" Ichigo shouted. "Today and again for the future of the earth, we serve!" And with that, Mew Ichigo pulled out her Strawbell Bell and began to attack.

The other Mews followed her lead.

"Don't you have a weapon, Almond?"

"Huh?" Startled, Almond turned to see Mew Berry standing there.

"You have a weapon, don't you?" Mew Berry repeated.

"Um…yes." Almond said as she summoned a dark gray shield, edged in white. "This is my weapon." It had a diamond shape, plus small spikes at the top, bottom, and three one each side.

"Wow, that's a long shield." Berry observed. "Anyway, c'mon. By the time we get in there, the Mews will have defeated the monster!"

_I could only hope they'll have done that._ Almond contemplated as she reluctantly followed Mew Berry.

"Ribbon…Zakuro Spear!"

"Ribbon… Lettuce Rush!"

"Ribbon…Minto Echo!"

"Pudding Ring Inferno!"

By now the Yeti, or abominable snowman, was reeling from the attacks.

"Hurry Almond." Berry urged her. "As soon as you go, Ichigo and I will combine our powers and finish it off."

"Umm…" Almond paused, but lacking a plausible excuse, she just sighed. "Okay.

"Ribbon…Almond Lance!" A pike of shot off the front of her shield and landed a direct hit on the Yeti.

"Berry, let's go!" Ichigo called to the blond, who nodded her consent.

"Ribbon…Doubleberry check!"

Defeated, the creature gave up and vanished in a cloud of snow.

"Hey, look." Mint pointed out. She caught a flake of snow that had fallen from the overcast sky on her glove. "It's snowing!"

"And getting colder." Lettuce shivered slightly.

"Uh… I- girls, I really need to get home." Almond said. "Is it alright if I don't go back to the café with you?"

"Sure." Mint said with a shrug. "By the time we got back, it would be time to go home anyway. We'll see you later."

"Thanks." Almond said. She hastily de-transformed and ran off.

The Mews watched her leave, then turned to each other.

"Well, Almond seems nice." Lettuce said.

"There's something not right about her." Zakuro spoke up.

"Huh?" Berry asked as the Mews turned to the wolf-girl.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo wanted to know.

"Exactly what I said." Zakuro told her. "There is something not right about that girl. She's so … unconfident"

"But, Zakuro, even I'm like that. Most of the time." Lettuce said.

"I know, but you're not as bad as her. Look how she ran off, just now. Mark my words, she's hiding something." Zakuro warned.

"Well, I have to get home." Berry said. "I have a lot of homework to do."

"Pudding has to go make dinner for her siblings, na no da."

"Yeah, see you guys later."

And with that, the Mews broke up and headed for their homes.

* * *

What was the third DNA in Mew Almond's body? Ryou wondered as he got ready for bed. He and Keiichiro had ruled out alien, or one of the alien's parasites. So what was it?

Oh well, he philosophically told himself as he turned off the light and got into bed. He'd sleep on it, and maybe have an idea in the morning.

Outside the Café, it was dark. A few streetlights provided illumination of the falling snow, and a lone figure walking through the snow. Her hair was black, and her eyes were ice blue. Her lips were as red as blood, and the falling snow and chilly air did little to deter her as she as she seemed to float above the snow.

She arrived at Café Mew Mew and turned up the walk. The doors were locked, their icy cold handles refused to turn under her hands. Without hesitation she stepped back and used a gust of snowy wind to blow open the doors. They slammed into the walls behind them as she moved silently through the first floor of the café, a trail of cold air, ice and snow surrounding her as she floated over the floor and up the stairs.

Ryou felt as though he'd only been asleep for a few minutes when the pervading sense of cold woke him up. Somewhat shocked by the bitter cold, he looked up, and saw the last person he had ever expected to see. "Yuki?!"

She looked exactly like Yuki, she was even dressed in Yuki's Mew Mew outfit. But somehow she seemed different and it was more then the snow and cold surrounding her.

Her eyes were now an icy blue, Ryou noticed, and seemed to alter between being vacant or seeming sadistic. Her outfit color had changed, too. It was now predominately a snow white, edged in black.

"Oh, no." Ryou whispered as he finally realized what the blue in Yuki's chart represented. "Yuki-onna."

She laughed, softly and cruelly. "Please, Ryou-sama, don't get up for my sake."

"What do you want?" Ryou demanded.

"What do I want?" Yuki, in her altered state of mind, moved closer to the bed and cupped his chin in her hand. "I want you, Ryou-sama."

Before Ryou could react, she moved forward and kissed him, leaving him immediately frozen.

"I want you dead." She pushed him back down onto the bed. "Mew Mint is right. You really should take better care of that ray gun of yours. Thanks to the Mew Power now dwelling within me, I am stronger than I have ever been before!"

Amid spiteful laughter and burst of snow flurries, the Yuki-onna faded away.

* * *

No sooner had Yuki-onna vanished, then Keiichiro awoke. The café seemed to have been invaded by an unreal cold.

With a sigh, Keiichiro got up, realizing he would get no sleep unless he could figure out what was going on. Maybe one of Ryou's experiments had gone wrong again.

He headed down to the first floor of the cafe, but as he entered the hallway, he noticed a trail of frost leading up the stairs and to Ryou's room.

"Oh, my, that can't be good." Keiichiro said. There was a draft coming from somewhere downstairs, he could feel it; but he changed his path and headed for Ryou's room.

Maybe it was just an experiment that had gone wrong, he repeated to himself as he knocked on the Ryou's door. "Ryou? Are you in there?"

There was no answer. _An experiment gone wrong?_ He mused for the third time. _But what kind of experiment would cause this? _He glanced again at the trail of frost on the floor.

"Ryou?" Keiichiro asked as he opened the door. What he saw when he opened the door shocked him.

"Ryou!"

* * *

**T.A.R.N.S.:** Well, this is either a very original plot, or a very cliche one. So I'd really like my reviewers to tell me whether they think it's cliche or original. If you're confused about something, it'll probably be explained in the next chapter. Anyway, a yuki-onna, for those of you who don't know, is a Japanese snow monster who usually takes the form of a beautiful woman. I wanted to do character who had a shield for a weapon and the powers of snow/ice, and I'd been reading about Yuki-onnas, so I figured what the heck? I'm not sure how Ryou got tangled up in it, though. But I like the suspense. (The only thing that worries me is that Ryou's fans might not like it.)

Anyway, I expect this to be a short story, and plan to wrap it up next chapter. (It was supposed to be a oneshot, but I broke it in half.) Please Read & Review!


	2. Chapter 2

****

Snow

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"Oh no, I'm gonna be late again!" Ichigo moaned as she raced down the street, going towards the Café Mew Mew as fast as she could without having to actually transform and use her Mew power to get there.

She had been so busy with Masaya after school, she had nearly forgotten about her job at the Café; she would have completely forgotten if Masaya himself hadn't reminded her.

She turned and darted up the sidewalk that led to the café, only to slow to a stop. Panting, she reached forward and grabbed the cool metal knob.

"Locked?" She jiggled the handle again, but it didn't open.

"That's odd. Usually, Keiichiro or Ryou would have unlocked the doors by now." Confused, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cellphone. She scrolled through a list of number until she found the one she wanted, then she pressed the green button.

She stood there nervously a few moments until she heard the ringing on the other end.

"Hello, Keiichiro? This is Ichigo. I was wondering why the café wasn't open. Are we…"

She trailed off as Keiichiro began to speak.

"What? What happened to Ryou?!"

Stunned, she stood there are Keiichiro finished talking. "Okay, I'll call the other girls, and we'll be there soon. See you later."

She turned off the phone with a _beep_, and then turned and started walking back down the sidewalk, then back up the road.

She opened her cellphone again and scrolled through the list of numbers, this time stopping at Mint's number. As soon as she heard Mint on the other end, she began to talk. "Mint, this is Ichigo. We've got to call the other girls and get down to the hospital as fast as we can. Something's happened to Ryou."

* * *

_S__omething's happened to Ryou._ Those were the words that kept running through Lettuce's head as she followed Zakuro, Ichigo, Mint, and Pudding down the sidewalk. Berry was currently absent, having been dispatched by Zakuro, Mint, and Ichigo to find Yuki.

_Something happened. That has to mean something bad. But what could have happened to Ryou?_ The green-haired girl wondered as she crunched through the snow behind the others. Even though yesterday had mild, there had been an unexplainable drop in temperatures since yesterday afternoon. Snow was still slowly falling in big, soft flakes.

"Ichigo, did Keiichiro mention what had happened to Ryou?" Lettuce finally spoke up.

Ichigo frowned. "No, all he asked was that I call the rest of you and that we all come down here as soon as possible."

"I wonder what happened." Mint said.

"Well, you're going to find out very soon." Zakuro said as the girls turned and followed the road up to the hospital.

**B**erry shivered, but not from the cold. This was a seedy part of town that she had no wish to be in. But with some help from Tasuku, she had managed to track Yuki to a hotel in the area.

She finally spotted a decrepit sign for the Knight's Horse Inn and hurried into the building. The inside was even worse than the outside; the floor was dirty, the wallpaper was peeling off the walls, the rug on the lobby floor was tattered and threadbare.

She kept a hand on her Power Pendant as she walked towards the decaying check-in desk and the sleazy looking man behind it. Berry stopped five feet away from them and asked, "I'm looking for a girl named Yuki. Do you know where she is?"

The man yawned and pointed a thumb at the stairs. "Up the stairs, third door on the left."

Berry nodded her thanks and then turned back towards the lobby. There was a restroom for ladies just off the side of it, which she walked over too and entered. "Mew Mew Berry, Metamorphosis!"

_If I'm gonna have to look for Yuki in this rat hole, I'm gonna be ready_. Mew Berry thought as she poked her head out the door. The man at the check-in desk was desk was gone, so the rabbit-girl quickly darted across the room and up the stairs. "Third door on the left…" She mused as she walked down the dimly-lit, musty hall.

Quickly finding what she hoped was the right door, she knocked, and then braced herself for what might happen if someone different opened the door.

She was still relieved when a sleepy-looking Yuki answered the door.

"Yuki, we've got to get to the hospital." Berry told her.

"Why?" Yuki asked. "Did- has something happened to one of the other Mews?"

"Not exactly," Berry replied. "Something's happened to Ryou."

_Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no! _

Berry watched a stricken look come over the other girl's face. "Is something wrong, Yuki?"

"Um…ah, no. No. Nothing's wrong. Um…Berry, would you mind going back by yourself?" Yuki asked. "I need to get dressed, and, umm, I'll be at the hospital a little later."

Actually, Berry sighed to herself, I was rather hoping you'd come back with me. The thought of going back through the part of Tokyo she'd already come through by herself was less than appealing. But she shoved her trepidations away and nodded. "Hurry, Yuki; we'll wait at the hospital for you."

Yuki nodded and closed the door. Berry sighed, then turned and headed for the stairs – going up. Why should she walk back to town when she could just jump from rooftop to rooftop? Besides, she'd probably get there faster, anyway.

* * *

Keiichiro was sitting in the waiting room on the third floor when the Mews entered. He seemed relived to see them.

"Girls, I'm glad you're here." He said.

"What happened to Ryou?" Lettuce asked.

"I'm not sure." Keiichiro replied. "Late last night, I found him frozen."

Ichigo, Pudding, Lettuce, and Mint gasped. "You mean literally frozen?" Ichigo asked.

Keiichiro nodded. "Frozen solid, actually. He survived, barely. His body temperature is still lower than it should be, but it's coming back up."

"How did you find him?" Zakuro asked.

The brown-haired man sighed. "I felt a draft last night, and went to see where it was coming from. The front door of the café had been blown open, and there was a trail of frost leading up the stairs and to Ryou's room. I found him on the bed, frozen."

"There was nothing besides the frost?" Zakuro asked.

Keiichiro shook his head.

"Don't worry, Akasaka-san!" Pudding chirped. "We won't let any frost monster hurt Shirogane-san!"

Keiichiro smiled. "Thank you, Pudding-chan."

"Can we see him?" Lettuce asked.

"Of course. Follow me." Keiichiro said as he stood up and lead the way into the hall.

As the group entered the hall, Berry, in her human form, ran up to them. "Yuki's on her way." The blond panted. "She should be here soon."

As the group went down the hall, Ichigo filled Berry in on what Keiichiro had told them.

"Frost? A trail of frost?" Berry asked.

"Yes," Keiichiro said. "That was the only thing we found as evidence to what had happened." He paused outside a door. "Here, this is Ryou's room." He pushed the door opened, and the group entered the room.

* * *

_R__you- in the hospital!? I did it again- I must have! _

The coat was only for looks; Yuki had long ago learned she was impervious to cold. She wore the lightest jacket she could without making it obvious as ran down the sidewalk. She slipped on the snow as she tried to make too sharp of a turn, but was up again a moment later, hurrying back down the sidewalk.

She arrived at the hospital a few moments later, but didn't go up to Ryou's room immediately. Instead, she went into the cafeteria, bought a cup of cocoa, and sat down at one of the tables.

_I can't go see him – what would I say? Hi Ryou, I'm sorry I tried to kill you last night?_

A tear fell from her face into the hot cocoa. _Why did I have to be born like this?_

* * *

Ryou seemed to be sleeping when the group entered the room. For a moment, no one said or did anything, not certain what to do next. An uncomfortable silence spread across the room. Then Ichigo spoke.

"This isn't right."

"What do you mean?" Keiichiro asked her.

"Ryou's always been there to protect us, and now it's our turn to repay the favor." Ichigo said. "We shouldn't be standing here. We should be out hunting for that monster!"

The other Mews looked at each other, then back at Ichigo.

"Ryou, I promise we'll find that monster and make it pay. Keiichiro, will you take care of Ryou until we get back?" Ichigo asked.

Keiichiro smiled. "I've been doing that since long before Tokyo Mew Mew showed up. Go, Tokyo Mew Mew. You have a job to do."

"We'll come back as soon as we can." Ichigo promised. "Let's go girls."

The six girl darted out of the room. No sooner had they left, then Ryou spoke. "Keiichiro."

The older man turned, startled, and glanced at the blond. "Ryou?"

"Go with them – help them."

Keiichiro seemed confused.

Ryou exhaled loudly and rolled over on his side. Feigning sleep had not been that hard, and it was a lot easier then answering questions. But that had been before he heard Ichigo's plans finding the 'monster.' He'd hoped to have time to investigate the problem on his own, but…

"Yuki is the monster."

"What?" Keiichiro asked incredulously.

"She's a Yuki-onna, or part of her is."

"A Yuki-…" Keiichiro trailed off as he remembered the chart or the girl's DNA. Without saying another word he rushed out of the room, trying to find the girls.

* * *

Another tear ran down Yuki's cheek and into the Cocoa. _The best thing for me to do would be to run away._

She curled her hand around the cup, and the cocoa instantly froze. She had wanted to drink that. Yuki dropped her head in her hands and burst into tears.

"Yuki, what's wrong?"

The dark-haired girl choked back her tears and looked up to see Lettuce standing there. "Lettuce, I … Nothing's wrong." She said as she hastily dried her tears. "I'm fine, just fine."

Lettuce seemed unconvinced, but instead of commenting, she replied, "Okay. Well, we're going to go look for the monster that attacked Ryou. Are you coming with us?"

"Searching? For the monster?" Yuki blanched.

"Yes, it froze Ryou and left a trail of frost through the Café, so Ichigo figures we should be out looking for some type of ice monster." Lettuce told her.

Yuki jumped up from her chair. "I have to go home – right now."

"Yuki!" Lettuce called after her.

The girl ran past the other Mews, who had waited by the door for Lettuce to talk to Yuki, down the hall and out the front doors of the hospital.

It was starting to get dark outside; night came early in the winter.

I have to get out of here. I have to leave before I hurt someone else!

Yuki glanced around nervously, but no one was out that she could be. _My supplies will be ready tomorrow. I'll pick them up, then go back to the mountains. No one will be able to find me there._

"Yuki!" She turned to see all six Mews come out after her.

"What are you running away from, Yuki?" Mint asked.

"If you tell us, maybe we can help." Ichigo said.

"No one can help. No one could ever help me," Yuki said as she struggled to hold back tears. To just be normal, just for one day…

"C'mon, Yuki. You have friends now. Help us find whatever attacked Ryou. And we'll be able to help you, too." Berry said.

Yuki squeezed her eyes shut. _No, no, no one could ever help me!!_ The wail built up inside her as tears ran down her face.

"No, you should run. Away from me. I can't help you, and you can't help me."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, confused. "Come on. Come help us. When Ryou gets better, we can all help you. He's even better and solving problems then we are. So let's go find what attacked him, and then we can help you."

Yuki's eyes snapped open, now ice blue instead of dark blue. All her apprehensions were gone now.

"You fools," She said, her voice ice cold. "I am what attacked Ryou!"

"What?" Dumbstruck, the other Mews took a step backwards.

"I am what attacked Ryou!" Yuki repeated, then she pulled out her Power Pendant. "Mew Mew Power, Metamorphosis!"

Her transformation didn't change, but when the snowflakes stopped flying, her outfit was white instead of dark gray.

"Wha – What is she?" Lettuce asked, shocked.

"Girls!" Keiichiro burst out of the hospital. "We have to stop Yuki, she's a…" He trailed off as he saw Yuki standing there.

"You should have gotten rid of me when you had the chance!" She shrieked, then sent a blast of ice and snow at the group, who jumped out of the way.

"Mew Mew Strawberry, Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Minto, Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Lettuce, Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Pudding, Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Zakuro, Metamorphosis!"

"Mew Mew Berry, Metamorphosis!"

"You hurt Ryou, but we let you hurt anyone else." Pudding said as she summoned her Puddring Ring. "Ribbon…Pudding Ring Inferno!"

A blob of gumdrop-shaped energy engulfed the Yuki-onna, but she simply froze and shattered it.

"You think that will be enough to stop me?" She asked indignantly, then sent a group of ice darts flying at Pudding, who jumped out of the way.

"With the Mew Mew power, I am invincible!" Yuki said as she sent a blast of icy snow at the rest of the Mews, who jumped out of the way.

Keiichiro had barely made a move to help them when he found he couldn't move. Glancing down, he saw his feet were encased in ice and frozen to the ground.

"You're Ryou's friend," Yuki stated as she moved towards him, a trail of ice spreading out on the ground as she walked towards him. "I was hoping for the ice prince himself, but I suppose you'll do instead."

His fingers were stiff, covered in frost that was spreading up his arms. _Ryou, this is what happened to you, wasn't it?_ He silently asked as Yuki grabbed his chin and brought her lips up to meet his. He knew what would happen after that…

"Ribbon…Zakuro Spear!" A wave of purple energy sent the monster flying. Yuki hissed angrily, but before she could attack again, was forced to jump out of the way as Mint shot two Mint Echoes at her.

Yuki pulled out her shield and blocked the third attack, but she didn't notice Lettuce creeping up behind her until it was too late.

"Ribbon…Lettuce Rush!"

The force of the attack sent Yuki flying.

While the other Mews were attacking, Berry used her Berry Rod to break away the ice around Keiichiro's feet. "Get back to the hospital." Zakuro told him as soon as he was free, while Lettuce was distracting Yuki. "We'll take of her."

Keiichiro quickly left, and Ichigo prepared her attack.

"Ribbon…Strawberry Surprise!"

But Yuki saw it coming, and erected a wall of ice that blocked the attack.

"Ribbon…Minto Ec-" Before Mint could finish her attack, Yuki sent a blast of ice-blue energy at her that formed an ice band around her, freezing her arms to her sides.

Her momentum thrown off, Mint lost her Minto Arrow fell to the ground.

"Ribbon…Lettuce Ru-" Before Lettuce could attack; Yuki froze the water in her castanets, leaving the weapons frozen to her hands.

"Ribbon…Pudding Ring Inferno!" Pudding shouted as she attacked from behind.

Yuki had been sending a barrage of snow at Ichigo, which the later had been blocking with her Strawbell Bell, but when Yuki realized she was being attacked from behind, she jumped out of the way and let the Pudding Ring Inferno hit Ichigo instead.

"This isn't working." Zakuro muttered to Berry. "She can block or avoid all our attacks. We need something stronger."

Berry wasn't paying attention. "Do you feel that?" She asked.

"Feel what?" Zakuro asked as she kept and eye on Pudding, who Yuki was now attacking. But the monkey-girl was nimble, and had so far been able to avoid the attacks.

"I don't know, but it's so warm, and it brings back good memories." Berry said.

Now Zakuro was alert. "Brings back good memories…Do you mean it feels very nostalgic?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"It's Mew Aqua."

"You mean that water stuff you guys used to defeat the aliens?"

Zakuro nodded. "We may be able to use it to defeat Yuki." She said as she pulled out her whip. "You go find it. I'll help Pudding distract her."

"Ribbon…Zakuro Spear!" Zakuro began he attack as Berry darted away to try and find the Mew Aqua.

"Where is it, where is it…?" Berry wondered as she looked around frantically. Then she spotted it, sitting in the top tier of the fountain in the hospital courtyard, which was now frozen over. "There!"

"Mew Aqua Rod!" _How did I know how to say that_? She wondered as she grabbed the Mew Aqua and had the Aqua rod appear in her hand a moment later. "Ribbon… Aqua Drops!"

She swung the rod out, making a figure-eight shape and leaving drops of Mew Aqua behind as she spun up into the air.

"Ribbon…Zakuro Spear!" Yuki dodged the attack, then sent a barrage of ice darts flying at the purple Mew.

Zakuro jumped out of the way, but Yuki kept sending Ice Darts at her. Finally, the Yuki-onna pulled out her Almond Shield. "Ribbon…Almond Pike!" She shouted as she attacked. The blast hit Zakuro head-on and sent her flying.

"This is the best you pathetic heroes can do?" Yuki wondered as she looked around. Mint was struggling to break the ice band around her torso. Ichigo was still trapped in the Pudding Inferno. Lettuce was trying to get her castanets to vanish but to no avail. Zakuro was still stunned from the Almond Pike.

"Hah! Pathetic." The Yuki-onna then noticed Pudding as the girl scurried behind a tree.

"One more to go." Yuki muttered as she took a step towards the tree. But before she could get any farther, something else caught her attention.

"Ribbon…Aqua Drops!" Mew Berry twirled up through the trees, the Mew Aqua rod spreading drops of the magical liquid wherever she went.

The Mew Aqua spread over the entire area; freeing Ichigo, thawing Lettuce's hands, melting the ice band across Mint's chest, reviving Zakuro.

But it had a totally different effect on Yuki.

The Yuki-onna let out a scream of pain as the magical drops landed on her. She sank to her knees, holding her head in her hands as the Mew Aqua continued to fall like rain.

"Yuki?" Ichigo asked as she stood up. The other Mews gathered around her, and watched as Berry finished spreading the Mew Aqua, then held the rod up in the air.

Bands of cream-colored light spread out from the rod, showering sparkles of the same color over everyone below.

A moment later, the white on Yuki's Mew outfit seemed to shatter away, leaving the dark gray color from before. Her eyes changed back to dark blue a moment later.

"Yuki?" Ichigo asked cautiously.

Yuki gasped and looked up the Pink cat-girl, only to jump up and run away a moment later.

"Yuki!" Ichigo shouted after the retreating girl, but Yuki didn't seem to here her. A moment later, she was out of site.

"So, Yuki was actually a Yuki-onna." Zakuro said as the girls stood in the snow. More snow was now falling now, this time in smaller flakes.

"What's a Yuki-onna?" Berry asked.

"A mythical snow monster." Lettuce said quietly. "That usually takes the form of a beautiful woman."

The group stood there a moment longer, then Zakuro turned away. "Come on, let's get back to the hospital. We need to see how Keiichiro is."

* * *

Sure enough, Yuki's supplies were ready by the next day. She picked them up, and was checking out of the hotel when she turned and saw someone she's hoped to never see again.

"Ryou."

He was leaning against the wall, looking only a little worse for wear. Today he was dressed for winter, though, and Yuki wondered briefly wondered if that was to protect against more than snow.

"We need to talk." Ryou said, clearly ignoring the albatross in the room. He grabbed her arm, and pulled her out the door and into a waiting car.

The trip to wherever Ryou was taking her was quiet. Ryou stared off into space and Yuki watched out the window as the scenery went by.

Somehow, she wasn't surprised when the car stopped at Café Mew Mew. Ryou opened the door for her, then paid the driver of the car. "Come on." He said as he turned and led the way into the Café.

Yuki held the box tight under her arm as they entered the building. Inside, she was once again faced by Keiichiro and all the Mews.

"If you want to kill me, I'll understand." Yuki said quietly.

Everyone except Ryou and Zakuro immediately looked dismayed.

"What made you say that?" Ichigo demanded.

"Well, I almost killed all of you."

"That's why you're here." Ryou said. "We'd like to here how you got your powers."

A faraway look came into Yuki's eyes. She set her box down on a table and began her story.

"My mother was a Yuki-onna, and as for my father, he was human, but I never met him. My mother seduced him, and killed him when she was done with him."

She sighed. "My first memories were of being raised by an older couple up in the mountains. They had found me one night, they said, alone in the cold and snow. I must have laid there for hours, but I didn't die. It's rather a shame I didn't. But that was my first clue that something was wrong.

"As I got older, it seemed as though I had a kind of alternate personality. It lived inside my head, and only became dominant during winter.

"Then I learned what I could really do: control ice and snow. My adoptive parents proved to be my father's brother and sister. They didn't want to tell me, but I finally learned the truth. My mother was a Yuki-onna. My father was dead. And as for me…

"The snow monster in me came out during the winter. The year I turned thirteen…. I didn't kill the person, but after what I did, let's just say I was no longer welcome in the village.

"After that, I took some money and left. During the summer I could live off the forest. When fall came, I would go a town or city, purchase supplies, then find a deserted cave in a place no one ever came, and spend the winter there, where I wouldn't hurt anyone.

"I didn't want to become a Mew, though the Yuki-onna in me was more than happy about it. When I came here to Tokyo to get supplies for the winter, I was hit by an odd ray of light, and became Mew Almond. But you know that already, and you know the rest already."

Yuki turned a pleading glance to Ryou. "Shirogane-san, I'm sorry! I never wanted to hurt you! But no you understand why I didn't want to stay." She said as she turned to face Mint, who looked down at the floor.

The snow girl reached into her pocket, pulled out her Power Pendant, an slid it across the table to the others. "Here. If I give this back, I should be able to prevent my other self from using the Mew Mew Power."

With that she turned, picked up her box and headed for the door.

"That's true." Yuki paused as she heard Zakuro's cool voice. "If you don't actively use your Mew Powers, they will eventually fade away." She turned to face the others again.

"But in the meantime, shouldn't you do something about those Yuki-onna powers?" Mint asked somewhat cruelly.

Yuki was about ready to scream. "What do you expect me to do about it?!"

"Well. We don't know what _you're_ going to do." Ryou said. "But here's what we'd like to recommend." He said as he slid a circular pendant across the table. The center of the pendant was filled with Mew Aqua.

"See, when we saw what happened to you, we figured the maybe Mew Aqua could stop the Yuki-onna in you from emerging and hurting people." Berry said.

"So after we got done collecting the Mew Aqua, we brought it back here. Ryou pulled a bunch of strings and got them to let him out of the hospital early, and he and Keiichiro made the necklace." Mint said.

"See Yuki? I told you we could help you." Ichigo said.

Yuki smiled the first real smile anyone had ever seen from her. "Thank you, Mew Ichigo." She said as she clipped the pendant around her neck.

As she walked towards the door, Pudding asked, "Yuki-oneechan, you'll come visit us again sometime, right?"

"We don't hold it against you." Lettuce added.

"We'll see. No promises." And with that, Yuki was gone.

"I doubt we'll ever see her again." Zakuro said matter-of-factly.

"Maybe not, but the Mew Aqua seemed to destroy her snow powers, so we may be able to save many other people – including Yuki – with that pendant." Ryou said.

"Either way, it's time for my tea." Mint said.

Keiichiro smiled. "I'll make you fresh, Miss Mint." He said as he turned and headed for the kitchen.

And in the sky above the café, one single white snowflake drifted down.

'_Thank you, Tokyo Mew Mew. You've given me something I haven't had in a long time – hope.'_

* * *

**T.A.R.N.S.:** Perhaps I shouldn't right TMM OCs. This is the second one who has not had a happy ending. Yes, I know this part was long. But look at it this way: this was originally supposed to be a oneshot. Both chapters combined were twenty-two pages long in MS Word. Dang, that's long. It didn't feel that long. Well, only sometimes.

Now, can I please get some reviews telling me whether or not you liked the story? Thank you.


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